Performance Tires For The Elio Will Be A Pain.

[Ty]

Remember, water is (relatively) not compressible, it can be displaced though (which is a factor if viscosity, not weight).
It doesn't care about weight (unless you're talking about millions of tonnes)

It is, however, related to weight in a very important way... put a light person on a ski and they are easy to pull with a boat because they pop right up to the top... Put Uncle Bob on that same ski and the boat may never get him out of the water...

The weight of the vehicle per square inch of contact surface will determine how readily water is squeezed out of the way so the tire can "sink" down and make contact with the road... the higher this psi, the more the tire will "sink" by pushing water to the sides.

 

[Frim]

Hi Crimson, I agree that a passenger will change the characteristics of driving, just like it does on a motorcycle when you have a passenger. However, the passenger is not directly above the wheel and suspension system, they are in front of it. So my guess would be that it will have some effect, but not necessarily significant.

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Image for reference

Your sketch makes the left side package door look like a viable option. I have now got to look at the current uni-body construction.

 

[outsydthebox]

Let us not forget the importance of tread design, rubber compound and "void to rubber ratio". AND the fact that the rear tire will not be following the path of the front tire. In a normal (4 wheeled) vehicle, the front tires help to "clear the water" from the path of the rear tires. This makes the front tires more likely to hydroplane (compared to the rear tire). The "odds" are, that one front tire will hydroplane "first" allowing some "steer-ability". Elio will not have that advantage, since the "lone" rear will be blazing it's own path. just my 2 cents.

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

It is, however, related to weight in a very important way... put a light person on a ski and they are easy to pull with a boat because they pop right up to the top... Put Uncle Bob on that same ski and the boat may never get him out of the water...

The weight of the vehicle per square inch of contact surface will determine how readily water is squeezed out of the way so the tire can "sink" down and make contact with the road... the higher this psi, the more the tire will "sink" by pushing water to the sides.

That's a power limitation.
That jet ski will likely plane out at the same speed regardless of weight. You just need more HP to get to that speed.

The jet ski's hull is not flexible so the hydro plane speed is fixed

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

Hi Crimson, I agree that a passenger will change the characteristics of driving, just like it does on a motorcycle when you have a passenger. However, the passenger is not directly above the wheel and suspension system, they are in front of it. So my guess would be that it will have some effect, but not necessarily significant.

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Image for reference

Good catch. I am not sure how much the handling would change, merely something to take into consideration along with the rear wheel not tracking behind the front (as mentioned above).

 

[Ekh]

You are correct sir. Well done.I am with you thinking about where the rubber meets the road.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/tirecalc?tires=135-80r15-195-55r15

Great way to compare tires. I wonder how much the MPG penalty would be, vs. how much better the cornering, skid-pan, and snow driving would be? Of course, there's also a weight penalty for the wider tires and fenders.

 

[Ekh]

Oh No GPA; you posted a stolen picture!! <Gasp!!>
The sign below replaced your picture.

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You should have done a screen scrape
Like this:

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Run and hide GPA; they'll be looking for you!

OK. I just learned that 49 unauthorized commercial uses of my images had been discovered. Some of these were very high quality images, whose licensing value exceeds $6,000.

This excludes the several hundred of unauthorized uses in blogs, etc.

Unauthorized (meaning stolen) use of images hits me and every professional photographer smack in the bank account. Just so you'll know, this business of stealing photos is not trivial, nor is it a joke.

Bloggers get away with it because it's not worth the effort to collect from them. It is still illegal to knowingly use or publish another's work without authorization.

 

[Ekh]

EKH made mention the other day the EM had the results from the swerve test; they were going lock to lock and pulling a .85g at 50<?> (I think that was the speed he said) and they came back with stable and responsive.
So they might have come up with a new tire in that size.

What I actually said was that Paul had said the car pulls.85G and will pass the "lock to lock swerve test at 50mpg". He then defined lock-to-lock as turning the steering wheel all the way from one stop to the other. He did not say this was a tested results, nor did he say it was just a calculated value. So whether the car actually performs to these specs is unknown.

Remember that Continental is or has just finished fine-tuning the brakes and traction control system. Of course changes from Continental's work will be reflected in the E1-C and all other E vehicles, but I don't know where they are in getting that done.

 

[Ray O]

Just for everyone information the tire size on the can am which has 110 hp is 165/55r 55h front and 225 /50 r15 76h. The can am weight is a little over 1000 lbs. Wide tires do not do well in rain or snow Can Am's usually do not see much rain or snow. I live in Ohio we see lots of rain and snow.

 

[Lil4X]

.85g is a very respectable number - even for a car with some sporty intentions. C/D once rated the skidpad performance of my old '72 Opel Rallye at .85g, saying, "it sticks to the road like lint to a navy blue blazer". . . and that was on the cheap French-made Goodyear tires (that I soon had to replace because with a full load of passengers and luggage, the rear tires were WAY out of their load range . . . yeah, I went to Michelins). The car took SCCA Showroom Stock championships for a couple of years before organizers changed what was considered "stock".

No, your Elio's not going to be a F1 contender, but it as currently advertised, won't exactly be a slug either. With 50+ hp and a curb weight (less driver) of -1300lbs, it has a slightly higher power to weight ratio than a whole lot of 2-seat sporty cars of the 80's. Light weight also pays off in cornering and braking, beside outright accelerative capabilities. That gives me hope that my cheap econobox will be able to deliver some entertainment on weekends out on the two-lane blacktop . . . in addition to being the economical weekday commuter that it was designed to be.